Link for character illustration:
<spantext-decoration:" underline;"=""> Chu, when are you going to visit your grandparents?”
It was breakfast time. Ning Chu Mom was wrapping dumplings while glancing up at her daughter.
“Um…” Ning Chu hesitated, a little guilty. “How about during Chinese New Year? I can go visit and pay my respects then.”
“That works too.”
“Is Uncle coming with us?”
She was trying to find a scapegoat to take the heat off her—so that her grandparents wouldn’t focus all their attention on her.
Uncle's hands froze mid-wrap. He glanced at her mom, clearly looking for her opinion.Her mother took a sip of soy milk, avoiding eye contact. “He’s not going...”
So even Mom gets nervous about bringing her younger boyfriend to meet the family, huh~?
Not only had she kept it a secret from her and her brother, but apparently, her grandparents didn’t know either. Probably barely any relatives or friends knew Mom was even dating someone…
Seeing her mom in a similar situation she'd once been in, Ning Chu couldn’t help but secretly find it amusing—and suddenly felt a lot better.
“When does your school break end?” her mom asked, clearly changing the subject.
“Let me check...” Ning Chu glanced at her class group chat and replied, “School starts again on the 17th of the first month.”
“So that means you’ll be home for about a month.”
“Yup~”
Ning Chu got the feeling her mom was kind of eager to send her off. “Mom, why do I feel like you can’t wait for me to leave?”
Her mom gave her a teasing smile and sighed dramatically. “The first two days you were back were fine. But by day three, you were already getting on my nerves. You don’t help with anything around the house and just get in the way.”
Come on~ It’s because I’m ruining your alone time with Uncle, isn’t it?
“That’s why I only come home once a month,” her brother Ning Yuan chimed in. “I used to only come back every six months when I was in college. Mom would cook all my favorite dishes. Now I have to sleep on a mat on the floor.”
“It’s not like you live far. What’s wrong with coming back once a week for a meal?”
“No thanks. I’d rather not get on your nerves.”
Their casual bickering made the atmosphere light and warm.
Compared to the first few months after transmigrating when she felt suffocated at school, Ning Chu now felt truly at ease in this kind of family setting.
“Ning Xin, stop eating or you’ll be late.”
Her mom turned to Black Bean, who was still munching on dumplings. “Go grab a hair tie. I’ll do your hair.”
“Okay~”
Black Bean popped the last few dumplings—dipped in ketchup—into her mouth, cheeks puffed like a squirrel, and dashed off.
Despite her small frame, she had easily eaten at least twenty dumplings—way more than Ning Chu could manage.
“Ning Yuan, can you drop her off later?”
“I’ll go,” Ning Chu offered. “I need to head out anyway.”
Her mom quickly caught on to where she was going and gave her a knowing smirk. Then she slid over a plate of freshly wrapped dumplings. “Put these in the pot. Your uncle and I haven’t eaten yet.”
The dumplings were stuffed with shrimp and pork—a mix Uncle had prepared himself. They tasted better than any store-bought ones.
At first, Ning Chu had assumed this broad, burly man would be rough around the edges, but after spending a day with him, she found him surprisingly considerate—and a great cook. With him around, her mom barely had to do anything in the kitchen.
Even when she tried to be objective, Ning Chu found it hard to pick out any major flaws in Uncle—aside from the usual smoking and drinking habits.
As for her mom’s relationship with him... well, they’d been secretly seeing each other for three to five years already. If they didn’t get along, it would’ve ended long ago.
When Ning Chu brought the freshly boiled dumplings to the table, Black Bean came out with her hair tied into two high pigtails.
With her kitten-like appearance, the hairstyle made her look especially adorable.
“Mom, where’s her tutoring center?”
“On Nanshan Street. She knows the way.”
Her mom handed her the keys to the electric scooter. “Be careful on the road.”
“Got it. Black Bean, let’s go. Make sure you guide me.”
“Don’t worry!”
It had been a while since Ning Chu rode an e-scooter, and she found the steering surprisingly heavy and hard to control—she was even struggling to keep her balance.
She could only keep both feet down on either side of the electric scooter, wobbling through the neighborhood as she tried to get the hang of riding again.
But Black Bean was so terrified that her face turned pale, clinging tightly to Ning Chu’s waist.
“Sis~ are you sure you can do this?”
“How about we just take a car instead?”
“What do you mean I can’t?” Ning Chu snapped back, though she immediately had to slam her foot down to stop the scooter from tipping over during a slow turn.
“We’re gonna be late. Fine, let’s take a car.”
She wheeled the scooter back into the storage room and quickly ordered a rideshare. Then she and Black Bean headed to Nanshan Pedestrian Street.
“Sis.”
“What?”
“When are you and brother-in-law getting married?”
“...”
Who the heck knows?!
There was no way she was getting married while still in school. And even after graduation, she’d probably wait until Wen Yang bought a car and a house.
It wasn’t that she needed the car and house—more like, it was a convenient excuse to stall giving herself away for free.
Though honestly… she wasn’t as resistant to the idea of “giving herself away” as she used to be. She might even be kind of looking forward to it now.
Still, Wen Yang’s “weapon” was a little too overpowered. The book’s description of his abilities was absurdly exaggerated. She was genuinely worried she might break.
“Sis, why are you carrying clothes? Are you going to brother-in-law’s place?”
“Uh… yeah.”
She was carrying a bag with a few changes of clothes inside. It was mostly just in case anything got dirty while she was at Wen Yang’s—so her mom wouldn’t immediately notice when she got home.
Before they could chat much more, Black Bean had already dozed off against Ning Chu’s shoulder.
By the time she woke up again, they had arrived at Nanshan Street. Black Bean took the lead and brought her straight to the tutoring center.
“I’ve never been to one of these before,” Ning Chu looked around curiously. When she was younger, her family couldn’t afford tutoring at all.
But the second they stepped inside, Black Bean snapped fully awake, looking excited and energized.
“There you are, Ning Xin~”
The receptionist immediately brightened up when she saw Black Bean. “Want some sunflower seeds? I’ll share a pack with you.”
Black Bean perked up her ears and called out sweetly, “Thank you, Big Sis~” Then she shook her head. “I can’t. I won’t finish them before class, and if I take them home, Mom will scold me.”
“Ning Xin~ I brought pork floss bread! Want some?”
A little boy suddenly ran over and stuffed a bag of bread into Black Bean’s hands.
“Thank you, big brother~”
Her voice was sweet and crisp like candy, instantly making the boy blush before he turned and ran away.
“Ning Xin~ over here, over here!”
From the entrance to the classroom, Ning Chu watched in stunned silence as kid after kid, teacher after staff member, waved and offered Black Bean snacks.
In just the short walk from the door to the classroom, her pockets were already stuffed full of treats.
Ning Chu followed behind, eyes wide in disbelief.
This cat is that popular? She’s being treated like a little princess!
No wonder Black Bean had zero complaints about going to tutoring.
“Sis, here, have some bread.”
Black Bean turned around and pulled the pork floss bun out of her pocket, handing it to Ning Chu. Then she glanced around guiltily and whispered,
“Don’t tell Mom, okay? I shared it with you, so it’s our secret!”
“...”
Ning Chu’s smile froze. She rubbed her temples, suddenly feeling a headache come on.
“Are you some kind of vixen? How are you this charming...”
“I’m just a cute little kitty, nya~”
<+></+>